1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an aerosol container for spraying content such as: hair products, e.g., hair colorants, cosmetics, deodorants, antiperspirants and other human targeted products; insect repellants, coating agents, cleaners and other household products; industrial products; and automobile related products; in which the aerosol container enables the content to be filled at a high rate. More particularly, this invention is effective when used as a valve for an aerosol container with an internal bag arranged therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, a double-layer aerosol container exists, in which the aerosol container has an internal bag inserted inside an outer container for filling the content and has a lower end of a housing of a valve mechanism inserted at a top end opening of the internal bag. A push button or the like with a content spraying nozzle is connected to a top end portion of a stem protruding outward from the housing for spraying the content. In order to fill the content into the internal bag of the double-layer aerosol container, a suitable filling device (not shown) is connected to the top end portion of the stem protruding from the housing. When the pressing pressure upon the stem depresses the stem toward the internal bag, the orifice closed by a stem gasket becomes open to open the valve mechanism. After the content has flowed into the housing from the filling device to the discharge channel and the orifice inside the stem, the content is filled inside the internal bag. After the completion of the filling procedure and releasing of the depressed stem, the position of the stem would return to the initial position, the valve mechanism would close, and the content of the internal bag would be isolated from the exterior.
Further, also with an aerosol container using no internal bag, a filling device is connected to a top end portion of a stem for filling the content inside the aerosol container via the stem.
Nevertheless, with the conventional method of filling the content via a narrow discharge channel and a diametrally small orifice arranged inside the stem, the filling procedure is time consuming and inefficient in terms of productivity. Further, the filling from the stem takes excessive time especially when the content has a high viscosity. If the discharge channel and the orifice of the stem are formed with large diameters in a means to solve the foregoing problem, the content could be filled rapidly during the filling procedure. However, when the content is sprayed after the filling procedure with use of such stem, an excessive amount of the content externally emerges through the orifice, the discharge channel, and the nozzle or the like in just a short time, a diametrally fine particle could not be formed, and an extremely undesirable result from the use of the aerosol container (such as dripping on the coating surface) could easily be anticipated due to the excessive amount of the discharged content.
It is an object of this invention to solve the aforementioned problems and increase the productivity of aerosol products by enabling the content to be filled into an aerosol container at a high rate. Further, this invention is structured to spray only a suitable amount of content during a spraying procedure using the aerosol container and to prevent an exceeding amount of the content from being sprayed excessively.
For solving the aforementioned problems, this invention relates to an aerosol valve for high rate filling for an aerosol container comprising: a housing having a top end fixed to a top end opening of the aerosol container; an upper chamber and a lower chamber, each being formed inside the housing via a flow port; a stem being attached to the upper chamber in a vertically movable manner via a stem gasket, the stem urging and projecting a top end outward from a lid member; a switching valve being attached to the lower chamber in a vertically movable manner, the switching valve not contacting to a lower end of the stem even during a spraying procedure of the content; a narrow flow port opened at the switching valve in communication between the upper chamber and the lower chamber; wherein the switching valve is pressed and urged to a valve seat of the flow port to close the flow port except for the communication of the narrow flow port; and wherein the switching valve is pressured by filling pressure to open the flow port during a filling procedure of the content via the stem for allowing the content to be filled rapidly.
Further, the aerosol container could have an internal bag inserted and arranged therein, and the housing could have a lower end inserted and fixed within a top end opening of the internal bag.
Further, the aerosol container could have no internal bag inserted therein, and the housing could have a top end directly fixed within a top end opening of the aerosol container.
Since this invention has the aforementioned structure, the content flows into the upper chamber of the housing via the discharge channel and the orifice of the stem when the stem of the aerosol container is connected with a filling device and depressed with high pressure for filling the content. The content flowed inside pushes against the urging force of the switching valve arranged at the lower chamber with a valve seat thereof in close contact to the flow port, depresses the switching valve with filling pressure, and opens the flow port.
In association with the opening of the flow port, the filled content is quickly filled into the internal bag via the stem. Further, with this invention, the discharge channel and the orifice can be formed at the stem, wherein the discharge chamber and the orifice have a diameter capable enough for flowing the content in matching the filling amount of the opened flow port. That is, when the filling of the content is completed, the stem returns to an initial position thereof, and the stem gasket closes the orifice since the stem is not subject to pressure from the filling device. The switching valve also returns to an initial position thereof and the valve seat of the switching valve closely contacts to the flow port thereby closing the flow port.
Further, in a case where ordinary mist is sprayed using the aerosol container filled with the content, a push button of the stem is pressed for depressing the stem, so that the orifice of the stem separates from the stem gasket and becomes open. As explained above, although the discharge channel of the stem and the orifice are formed with a large diameter for filling the content rapidly, due to the fact that the switching valve is formed with the narrow flow port in communication between the upper chamber and the lower chamber, the narrow flow port would restrain the content having flowed from the inside of the aerosol container to the inside of the upper chamber of the housing so that the flow amount would be a suitable amount, by forming the narrow flow port small enough to allow the content to be suitably discharged. Accordingly, even if the discharge channel of the stem and the orifice are formed with large diameters, the content would not be sprayed excessively since only a suitable amount of the content is guided to the orifice and the stem via the upper chamber.
Owing to the foregoing structure of this invention, the content could be filled rapidly into the aerosol container during a filling procedure, thus being capable of restraining the flow amount and spraying only a suitable amount of the content from the nozzle or the like during discharge of the content.